Paper ruling machine



April 1, 1941,. c, E, CLARKE ETAL 2,236,725

PAPER RULING MACHINE Original Filed July 3l., 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet lApril 1, 1941. Q E CLARKE' ETAL 2,236,721',

PAPER RULING MACHINE` Original Filed July 3l, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2April l, 1941 c. E. CLARKE ETAL 2,236,725

PAPER RULING MCHINE Original Filed July 3l, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Patented Apr. 1, 1941 u sr*` TES PATENT orrlc PAPER RULING MACHINE"chusetts @riginal applicationv July 31, 1939, Serial No. 287,552.Divided and this application October 8, 1940, Serial No. 360,272

.l 6 Claims.

This invention relates to ruling machines of the type in which sheets ofpaper are conveyed on a wide cloth belt beneath pens arranged to beraised and lowered tov rule lines on the sheets in accordance withpredetermined patterns. The present application is a division of ourco-pending application Ser. No. 287,552 filed July 3l, 1939, in whichappears a complete and detailed description of the entire rulingmachine. Since the present application relates particularly to the drivefor the ruling machine, reference should be had to the above-mentionedapplication for the organization of the machine as a whole.

The primary object of our invention is to increase the output of rulingmachines. These machines as heretofore constructed have been limited toa speed which will not produce efciently more than four reams of ruledpaper per hour. One of the problems to be solved in the production of aspeedier machine arises from the necessity for an improved drive whichis ilexible, capable of minute regulation, and free from backlash andvibration.

Another object of our invention is to eliminate the system of changegears universally used on previous machines and which necessitated theprovision of a large stock of gears which had to be stored near themachine and used to replace some of the gears on the machine when it wasdesired to set up the machine for a different rate of production or fordiiferent sizes of sheet.

One of the important features of the invention resides in thecombination of a base slidably mounted in the frame of the machine and amotor and a pump for operating the mechanism for feeding the sheets intothe machine. A varia-ble speed transmission unit, for example of theReeves type, disposed on the motor shaft and belted to a pulley runningon a driving shaft of the machine pro-vides a change speed systemwhereby the speed of the machine may be varied with perfect iiexibilityby sliding the motor base back and forth within the frame.

Another feature of the invention consists in a novel system of shaft-ingand gearing by means of which the pen controlling mechanism may bedirectly regulated by changing the position of the motor base. Further,an independent change gear system is permanently disposed between themain drive shaft and the cloth roll, whereby the speed of the cloth rollcan be regulated without effecting the rate of the pen controllingmechanism.

The provision of separate drives for the cloth roll and for the pencontrolling mechanism results in a machine capable of almost innitevariation as to rate of feed and size of sheet, and one which isrelatively free from backlash and vibration.

Our invention will be best understood and appreciated-from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes ofillustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the general organization ofthe ruling machine,

Fig. 2 is a View in perspective of the driving mechanism,

Fig. 3 is a View in cross section showing the gearing for the camshafts, and

Fig, 4 is a view in perspective showing the drive forthe cloth roll.

Although, as above stated, referenceshould be had to our co-pendingapplicationfor a detailed understanding ofthe organization of the rulingmachine of our invention, we shall present a brief outline of itsgeneral construction before proceeding to describe the subject matter ofthe invention claimed herein. The machine is supported by and" partiallycontained within a rectangular metal frame Ill considerably longer thanit is wide. By means of the mechanism not shown herein but including adriven feed tape, the sheets of paper are taken from a stack andadvanced one Vby one on the surface of a cloth belt 86 to a gate 94where each sheet is momentarily checked and straightened. The sheets arethen successively conveyed on the cloth belt beneath pens held bytransverse clamps which are lowered and raised Yof which appears in thedrawings.

in accordance with the length of the lines to be ruled on each sheet.After the sheets pass from beneath the pens, they are carried under aheater to dry the ink and nally removed at the far end of the machineand delivered into a receiving bin.

The improved drive of our invention is best shown in Fig. 2, in which itwill be lseen that a flat L-shaped base I4' is grooved to fit' over acylindrical cross girt l2 in the lower part of the machineA frame andhas an arm l@ which is vhooked at its outer end to fit over anothercross driven from the motor by a belt 26 and operates the suction wheelof a feeding mechanism,v

through the flexible suction hose 29. On the outer end of the motorshaft is a Reeves transmission device which comprises a pair of disks 30having opposed convex faces. The outer disk is keyed to the motor shaftand free to slide longitudinally upon it, being urged toward the otherdisk by a heavy spring 34. 39 is xed to the motor shaft. A belt 32` isheld between the disks 30 and drives a large pulley 36 which rotatesfreely on a stub shaftV 38 journalled in a bearing bracket 4E)l securedto the frame I and in the near wall of a housing 42 secured to theoutside of the frame I0. A clutch 44 controlled by a lever 46 serves tocouple the pulley 36 to the stub shaft 38; l

Fast on the stub shaft 38 adjacent the pulley 36 is a pinion 48 whichdrives a large gear 59 secured on a shaft 52 journalled in a bearingbracket 54 and in thehousing 42, best seen in Fig. 1. Within the housing42 and secured to the shaft52 is a gear (not shown) in mesh with anothergear 56 secured to a shaft 58 journalled in the housing 42 and in abearing bracket and gear housing Si) which is secured to the frame II).The shaft 58:' runs longitudinally of the frame I0, and by means ofbevelled gears in the housing 6D, motion ofthe shaft 58 is transmittedto a shaft 62 which runs transversely across the frame 20 and isjournalled in a housing 64 secured to the frame on the rulers side ofthe machine. For sake of convenience the shaft 52 may be termed the maindrive shaft and the shaft 62 may be termed the cam shaft.

As seen in Fig. '3, the cam shaft 62 carries a gear 'II which directlydrives gears 'I2 and 14 on stub shafts 66 and 68 and also drives a gear'I6 on a third stub shaft 1I). In the latter case the drive from thegear 1| is transmitted through an idler gear '18. In Fig. 1 I havedesignated the pen beams and their standards collectively by thereference character 88 and this includes part of the mechanism forraising and lowering the pens, all as will more fully appear in ourco-pending application referred to above. Fast on the stub shafts 66, 68and 'I8 are cam disks 82 carrying dogs 83 which serve to raise and lowerthe pen beams. Contained within the upper portion of the frame I8 is acurved bed ,8,4 over which travels the wide cloth belt 86. front end ofthe machine the cloth passes around a` roll 88 which is driven in amanner to be described hereafter. At the rear end of the ma chine thecloth passes over an idler roll |84.

Fast on the outer end of the shaft 62 is a cam Si] which operates alever 92 torock a gate 94. Periodically the gate is lowered into contactwith the cloth 86 and serves to check each sheet momentarily and tostraighten it.

It will now be evident from the description of the mechanism that thecam shaft 62 is driven from the main drive shaft 52 and drives the camswhich raise and lower the pens and pen beams 88 and control the gate 94.The speed of the cam shaft is regulated by manipulating the hand wheel22 to slide the motor and its base along the cross girts I2. As themotor approaches the pulley 36, the belt rides up on the convex surfacesof the disks 30 and increases its speed. Since each sheet must bechecked by the gate 94, it will be apparent that the number of sheetsbeing ruled in a given time is equal to the number of revolutions of theshaft 62 during the same time. It likewise follows that for At the Theinner disk A each revolution of the shaft 62 the cam disks 82 must alsomake a complete revolution. Therefore, the rate of production of themachine is directly regulated by the hand wheel 22.

The size of the sheet to be ruled must control the speed of the cloth,since for each revolution of the shaft B2 an amount of cloth equal tothe length of the sheet must be driven under the gate and the pens. Itfollows that once the rate of production of the machine has beenestablished by manipulation of the hand Wheel 22, means'must be'providedfor adjusting the rate of travel of the cloth. y

To these ends we provide on the shaft 52 a series of gears of differentdiameters suggested at 53 and contained Within the housing 42. Anothergear (not shown) is carried on the end of 'a pivoted lever 96 which maybe moved to bring the gear into engagement with any one of the gears 53on the shaft 52. The gear on the lever 96 is constantly in mesh with agear (not shown) coupled to a shaft 98, which appears in Fig. 4. Ahousing |08 contains bevelled gears which transmit the motion of theshaft 98 to a series of gears in a casing |82 fastened to the inside ofthe frame II). The last gear in the series' is fast to a shaftjournalled in the frame I 0 and carrying the cloth roll 88. The clothroll shaft is geared to a shaft |06 carrying an upper or feed roll (notshown). On the outer end of the shaft |86 is a hand wheel |08 by meansof which the cloth roll 88 may be turned when the machine is being setup for operation.

It will now be seen that by shifting the lever 96 the rate of the shaft98, and thus the rate of the cloth roll 88, may be varied. Thus we haveeliminated the necessity for providing replacement gears, and theoperator of the machine is not forced to remove a gear from the machineand replace it with another each time the size of the sheet is changed,but only has to shift the lever 96. The drive for the pen controllingmechanism and the gate is entirely separate4 from the drive for thecloth roll, an arrangement which eliminates backlash and promoteseiciency of ruling.

The pump 28 supplies a Vacuum for operating a feeder of the typedisclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,205,921 issued to Charles E.Clarke on June 25, 1940, a flexible hose 29 being connected to the pump.It Will be evident that the movement of the base I4 does not disrupt theoperation of the pump 28 or vary its rate. Ashaft |88 coupled to theshaft 58 by means of a universal joint IIO controls the operation of thetiming mechanism of the feeder, and a shaft I I2 coupled to the end ofthe shaft 98 by means of a universal joint [I4 operates the conveyingtape of the feeder. It will, therefore, be seen that the pump 26 isarranged for constant and continuous operation, the `timing mechanismfor the feeder` is driven by the drive for the pen controlling mechanismand the gate, and that the cloth roll drive alsoV operates the feedertape which brings the sheets to the cloth roll. Thus, in the generalorganization of the machine, regulation of the rate of the drive forthat part of the mechanism which controls the rate of production of themachine is unified, whereas an independent drive jointly operates thesheet conveying mechanisms of the feeder. The result is that one settingof the hand wheel 22 effects all the changes which accompany a change inthe rate of production of the machine, and one setting of the lever 96automatically takes care of claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. In a paper ruling machine including a frame and mechanism forfeeding, conveying, and ruling sheets of paper; the combination of abase supported for sliding movement by the frame, a

motor secured to the base, an air pump on said base connected to thefeeding mechanism and driven by said motor, a Reeves transmissionsecured to the shaft of the motor and driving the ruling and theconveying mechanism, and means for sliding the base back and forth inthe frame, whereby the speed of the ruling and conveying mechanism canbe varied.

2. In a ruling machine including pen controlling mechanism, sheetconveying mechanism, and a vacuum operated sheet feeding mechanism, thecombination of a motor, a pump driven directly from said motor andsupplying the vacuum for the feeding mechanism, a Reeves transmissiondriven by said motor and driving the pen controlling mechanism, and achange speed gear system driven by the Reeves transmission and drivingthe sheet conveying mechanism.

3. In a ruling machine including a frame, pen controlling mechanism,sheet conveying mechanism, and a vacuum operated feeder, the combinationof a base slidably carried on the frame, a motor secured to said baseand having a shaft, a pump for the feeder also secured to the base anddriven by said motor, a Reeves transmission carried on the motor shaftand driving the pen controlling mechanism and the sheet conveyingmechanism, whereby the speed of the last mentioned mechanisms may bevaried by sliding the base on the frame without affecting the rate oroperation of the pump.

4. In a ruling machine including a frame, a

sliding base supported by the frame, a motor secured to the slidingbase, a main drive shaft disposed at one side of the frame and drivenfrom said motor, means between the motor and the shaft for changing therate of revolution of the shaft, pen-controlling mechanism geared tosaid shaft, a sheet conveyor driven from said shaft, and means betweenthe shaft and the conveyor for regulating the rate of the conveyorindependently of the pen-controlling mechanism.

5. In a ruling machine including a frame, pencontrolling mechanism,sheet conveying mechanism, and sheet feeding mechanism; a base slidablysupported by the frame, a motor and a pump secured to said base, asuction connection included in the feeding mechanism and operated bysaid pump, a main drive shaft mounted for rotation adjacent one side ofsaid frame and driven from said motor, means between the motor and theshaft for varying the rate of rotation of the shaft responsive to theposition of the base in the frame, means geared Idirectly to the shaftfor actuating the pen-controlling mechanism, a change speed gear systemsecured to said shaft and driving said sheet conveying mechanism,whereby movement of the base changes the rate of all the mechanismsexcept the pump and regulation of the change speed gear system variesthe rate of the sheet conveyor without affecting the rate of .thepen-controlling mechanism.

6. In a ruling machine the combination of a frame, a motor slidablymounted on the frame, a shaft mounted for rotation at one side of theframe and driven from the motor, means between the motor and the shaftfor regulating the rate of revolution of the shaft responsive totheposition of the motor on the frame, pen-controlling means geared tosaid shaft, a series of gears of different, diameters secured to ysaidshaft, sheet conveying means, a system of gears arranged to drive saidsheet conveying means, and means for selectively engaging one of thegears on the shaft with the system of gears driving the sheet conveyingmeans.

CHARLES E. CLARKE. ROBERT T. DUFFY.

. J. W. CLOUTIER.

